ECT- when to decide to do it and does it really help?

I have been reading posts about ECT and have been interested in it but don't know when it's for me. I'm sick of all my meds; I am taking metformin, tricor, synthroid, and crestor in addition to my psych meds (listed in my sig).

I'm 5'2" and 200 lbs. I can't seem to lose weight no matter what I try so I've stopped trying.

I have been MOSTLY stable for at least 6 years and not hospitalized in 8-10 . My current regimen seems to be the last med cocktail that will work.

Thoughts?

If you've been stable for so long then I wouldn't consider ect. It's not really to get you off of meds. I still have to take meds even though I has it last fall. It did keep me mostly stable for almost a year but that was also due to my medication. It's harsh on the body and the mind. You lose a lot of memory. I only did it because I had no other meds to try and I was basically nonfunctional because I was so depressed. If you're not having problems right now I wouldn't do it. It's not a cure, just a treatment.

I agree with Wildflowerchild25. It is recommended for patients on maximum medical therapy who have tried all the meds but still are depressed, suicidal, non-functional, etc. I had it earlier this year and it did not work for me. I had 10 treatments and the memory loss and cognitive loss due to having it has been a definite struggle. I had both bilateral and unilateral treatments and the bilateral causes more of the memory problems. In any event, unless you are suicidal or near-suicidal I wouldn't recommend it.

If you've been stable, ECT is probably overkill. ECT will not eliminate the need for medications. ECT is not a cure. Personally, ECT is for patients whose depression level is so severe and unresponsive to treatment that their ability to function is pretty much gone, they are probably a danger to themselves, and they are perhaps facing long-term hospitalization if some very intensive treatment such as ECT isn't used. ECT is a very risky treatment that definitely should not be undergone lightly.

Are you in therapy to work on management of your symptoms and issues that might be continual problems for you? If you are stable, therapy would probably be as or more effective than ECT.

I'm desperate for ECT to work for me and after the initial 9 bilateral treatments I'm actually feeling worse and more unstable than I have in a long time. I've signed up for another 6 but I've had some pretty significant memory loss. If I didn't feel like I have almost no quality of life I would probably not voluntarily give up more.

I came on here one night to re-read some of my threads and there was a whole thread where I felt suicidal and my husband left work to come and be with me and I had completely forgotten it. It was the strangest feeling reading an entire thread with my own words and the responses from people and having no memory of it. The cool part of that was that I was struck anew with how awesome the people on this list are :-)

Anyway, if you are stable and functioning I wouldn't recommend it. If you are desperate and nothing else works then you have nothing much to lose. That's where I am right now. Not much to lose by trying it. Even if I suffer more memory loss. If it gives me some relief from this unrelenting hell of a depression, it can wipe as much memory as it wants.